Suspender-buckle



(No Model.)

F. H. RICHARDS. SUSPENDER BUCKLE.

No. 435,452. Patented Sept. 2, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, ASSIGNOR TO THE TRAUT & HINE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEXV BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

SUSPENDER-BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,452, dated September 2, 1890.

Application filed May 1, 1890. Serial No. 350,235. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Hartford, in the countyof Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Suspender Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buckles for suspenders, and to that class of suspender buckles having cast-offs, the object being to pro vide a buckle of that class which shall be simple in construction, cheaply manufactured, and readily operated. The invention is in the nature of an improvement 'on the buckle described and claimed in my application, Serial No. 350,232, filed May 1, 1890.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front or side view of a buckle embodying my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a top view of the buckle-plate and lever. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the same drawn in projection with Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the middle of the buckle. Fig. 5 is a front view of a modification of the plate and lever. Fig. 6 is a top view of the same. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the buckle in line a a, Fig. 6.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

The buckle-plate B is provided with the usual holding-teeth, as 7, for engaging the web 3 of the suspender, with means, as the lever L, carried on pivots 4 4 formed on the plate, for clamping the web 3 in engagement with said teeth to secure plate B to said web, and with means for carrying the elastic or spring hanger S, said means consisting in a suspension-hook 10 and oppositely-disposed side catches 6 and 8, engaging the two sides 16 and 18, respectively, of said hanger S. The lower ends of the hanger S are formed into loops, as 12 and 14, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, for carrying the straps 11 and 13. The upper end of the plate B has formed thereon the upwardly-projecting part- 10, constituting the suspension-hook for carrying the said hanger S. This hook being at the extreme upper end of the buckle-plate, the greatest relative length of hanger and consequent elasticity thereof is obtained within practicable limits.

teeth 7 are formed on the lever L, as also are the pivots 4; but this construction is deemed to be less efiective than that shown in the preceding figures.

\Vhen the hanger is fully hooked in place, as in Fi 1, the upper sides or bends 2 of the loops 12 and 14 come close underneath or contiguous to the hooks 6 and 8, respectively, and thus serve as a lock for the hanger to prevent the same being taken ofi from the hook 10 without previously having been unhooked from said side catches 6 and 8. This feature gives additional reliability, since the downward strain of the straps is not then depended upon to keep the hanger in engagement with its said suspension-hook. It is described and claimed in my aforesaid prior application.

The hanger S is or may be made of suitable spring-wire, and in practice of about the pro portions shown in the drawings. The plate B may be made of sheet-brass or of other suitable material ordinarily used for manufacturing buckles.

When the cast-off feature of the buckle is to be used, the user grasps the hanger by the loops 12 and 14 and closes together the sides thereof until said sides disengage from the catches 6 and 8, when the lower end of the hanger may be drawn forward of said catches and the hanger then lifted off the hook 10, thereby completing the separation of the two principal parts of the buckle.

It should be understood that the means for attaching the straps to the hanger may be varied Within the scope and limits of my invention-as, for instance, the said means shown and described therefor in my application, Serial No. 350,236, filed May 1, 1890, or in my application, Serial No. 350,238, filed May 1, 1890.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. In a buckle, the combination, with the plate B, having means for the attachment thereof to the suspender-web, and having the side catches and shaped on the upper end to form the suspension-hook, of the elastic hanger, substantially as described, adapted to rest on said suspension-hook and engage 5 said catches, said hanger having means for the attachment thereto of the straps.

2. In a buckle, the combination, with the buckle-plate B, having the hook 10. extending upwardly on the upper edge thereof, and hav- IO ingthe side catches 6 and 8 at the lower end there0f, 0f the teeth out from the plate below said hook, the lever'coacting with said teeth for engaging the Suspender-web, and the spring-hanger S, carried on said hook and engaging said side catches.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS. Witnesses:

HENRY L. RECKARD, LEWIS C. HEERMANN. 

